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The future of Apprenticeships in England #Apprenticeships #Basildon #ITEC

From ‘Frameworks’ to ‘Standards’ and the changes in funding arrangements

Trailblazer Apprenticeship ‘Standards’ are replacing the current apprenticeship ‘frameworks’ and the way in which they are funded is changing from 2017. All employers will be expected to financially contribute towards the apprenticeships as the Government transfers the purchasing power to the ‘users’ rather than the ‘providers’. It was originally planned that the Government will invest £2 for every £1 paid by the employer up to a ‘cap’ and these caps were dependent upon the sector of the Standard. Thus, the new funding system would be ⅓ employer funded and ⅔ Government funded.

However, with the announcement of the Apprenticeship Levy in the Autumn 2015 budget, further changes are coming into play and will affect the way apprenticeships are funded. The Apprenticeship Levy comes into force in April 2017 and will be a massive game-changer. #Levy #Apprenticeshiplevy

How will the new Apprenticeship Levy work?

The Levy will be mandatory and based on payroll costs. Those employers with a total payroll bill of over £3M will have to pay 0.5% of the total cost into the levy pot. The first £15K is an ‘allowance’ so for employers with a bill of exactly £3M, then the levy is £15K and not collected. An employer with a salary bill of £4M, the levy will be £20K of which £5K will be collected.

This means, in effect, that employers subject to the levy may be paying up to 100% of their apprenticeship costs, whether or not they have any apprentices and this will undoubtedly affect internal staff training.

The good news is that Apprenticeships will now be available to all age groups so employers will not be restricted to recruiting and training school or college leavers, although they will still make up the majority benefiting from this training.

Therefore, the funds can be used for workforce development, to up-skill current staff of all ages and can assist with staff promotion programmes, i.e. those being given more responsibility or moving into a more senior role. However, there must be significant new knowledge and skills required to be eligible to draw down apprenticeship funding.

There are also constraints, of course. The funding must be used for training for an Apprenticeship Standard and the funding must pay for off-job training with an approved training provider. It cannot be used for general staff training, special projects or CPD updates unless this is within the apprenticeship programme delivery. The levy system does not recognise the training employers do for their own staff so, to ensure they get a return on their levy, they will need to outsource their training. The off-job training must be a minimum of 20% of the required apprenticeship training and must be delivered as part of ‘time off for study’ regulations. The funding will not cover on-job training. However, there are three employer incentive payments; 1. for businesses with less than 50 employees, 2. for training 16-18 year old apprentices and 3. for completing the apprenticeship.

What will it mean for levy payers, payers of a small levy, non-levy payers and SME’s?

The plans for SME’s remain the same, i.e. ⅓ employer funded and ⅔ Government funded. However, watch this space, as changes may be announced in the coming months. It is expected that eventually SME funding will also come from the levy pot, making Apprenticeships sustainable for the future but meaning that large employers will also be providing the funding for apprenticeships for SME’s.

At the moment, employers are expected to top up their contributions if not covered by the levy. So for example, where the levy that has been paid is £4K but the apprenticeship costs £6K, the employer is expected to meet the £2K additional cost. However, there are plans to allow employers to draw down more than they put in by re-allocating ‘unused’ funds – again, watch this space, while the Government decide on these parameters. The Government is also looking at ways very large employers can ring fence their levy funds for apprenticeships within their supply chain but there is nothing definite announced as yet and this will be difficult to manage.

Institute for Apprenticeships

A new organisation will be set up to be responsible for the governance of apprenticeships; The Institute for Apprenticeships. This body will be overseeing the development and implementation of standards and quality. There is no real news about how Osfted fits into this remit as of yet.

The levy pot will be managed by the Digital Apprenticeship Service and funding will be allocated by use of a ‘virtual account’. The funding must be ‘spent’ within 2 years of being allocated.

What does it mean for our employers and apprentices?

So the new funding structure means there will no longer be a fixed rate per apprentice. Each apprenticeship programme will be agreed between the employer and the training provider and will be based on what training and development the apprentice needs to meet the assessment criteria of the Standard.

This price will need to include any off-job training elements, assessments, reviews and the end of programme synoptic assessment costs (rumour has it that the cost for end assessments is going to be a % of funding).

There will also be a need for a payment schedule to be agreed between the employer and the training provider to maximise cashflow opportunities across both parties. Funding for SME’s is drawn down when a matching cash sum has been paid to the training provider by the employer so it is very important to have a mutually agreed payment schedule as part of a commitment statement.

Our apprenticeship offer to employers needs to be flexible, varied and meet the needs of the parties involved. We can do this by varying the courses on offer and offering workforce skills development programmes. This could be a ‘pick and mix’ variety of learning and services based upon the learners’ development needs, the needs of the employers and the requirements of the job roles, and could include:

Like this:

This month we interview, Emma who has completed her European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) Extra, full level 2 IT Certification. Emma commenced her ECDL course with ITEC on 9th November 2015 and achieved her full certificate on 26th February 2016.

ITEC: Emma, what were your thoughts and plans for your career when you first left school?

Emma: I originally wanted to be a teacher

ITEC: What did you do after leaving school?

Emma: I went into human resources following a successful secondment opportunity

ITEC: What did you get out of your course?

Emma: Most importantly, the confidence and knowledge to use PowerPoint, Excel and Word effectively. I have also enjoyed my learning and being at ITEC. I was very well supported and guided at ITEC. People have gone “above and beyond” to support my learning.

ITEC: Congratulations on getting a job, Emma. Has your course helped you with the skills needed for work?

Emma: Yes, without a doubt. I will use all three packages regularly in my new role. I will need to produce data regularly for the company.

ITEC: What skills do you feel you have gained from your course?

Emma: The confidence to explore anything I don’t know using the “help” menus and user guides. Also the confidence to try new things. Across all three Microsoft applications my skill level has vastly improved so I can make a greater contribution at work.

ITEC: What future learning and development goals do you have?

Emma: I would like to move onto ECDL Advanced.

ITEC: How do you feel the course has helped towards your future career plans?

Emma: Immensely. I feel far more equipped and confident – thank you for everything.

To bring our 30th anniversary fund-raising challenge to a roaring climax, we finished how we started, by running a Charity Quiz Night on 5th February 2015 at the Bowers & Pitsea Football Club. The fund-raising has been in aid of 3 local charities; Be Child Cancer Aware, the Indee Rose Trust and the Hamelin Trust. The evening was held in the club bar, where a complimentary buffet was provided by ITEC and supplied by Clair and her team at the Bowers Club.

A year ago, to launch our 30th anniversary, the Charity Quiz had a theme – all the questions were about 1984, the year ITEC opened. A tough challenge for any quiz master! This year, no theme was used. We considered having all the questions about 2014, the year ITEC celebrated its 30th Anniversary, but we felt this would be too restrictive for the quiz master and the contestants. After all, some of the films, books, songs and TV programmes from 1984 are dearly-loved classics today. 2014 hasn’t been gone long enough to inspire any classics!! Unless, of course, you know differently???!!

Can you name the rat in Disney’s ‘Ratatouille’?

Firstly we had a round of questions on ‘Food & Drink, followed by some pictures of Disney Characters for our teams to name. A short debate was held over the name of the rat in ‘Ratatouille’, which was resolved with the power of Google and the memory of a young girl, who names ‘Remy’ as one of her favourite characters. The quiz master bowed to the expertise of this young Disney fan and, of course, the mighty Google. There were more teams that lost a point for ‘Ratatouille’ than gained a point for ‘Remy’, but fair’s fair, we can’t dis a young girl’s favourite character!

The quiz master thought the ‘Musical Breaks’ round would sort the men from the boys as famous guitar breaks were played in isolation from their well-known songs. However, this didn’t faze anyone and all teams scored 50% or more in this round. The round that did seem to catch our quizzers out was the devilish ‘Films’ round. All the questions were from the quiz master’s DVD collection and proved to be taxing for all our teams!

Winners and shakers

10 rounds and 2 marathons later, the winning team was ‘Total Thickos’, who obviously didn’t live up to their name! They successfully defended their title as they won last year under the aptly 1984-inspired name of ‘The Thought Police’. They were closely followed by The Addams Family in second place and, last year’s runners-up, Culture Club in third place.

Charity funds raised

Coupled with a successful raffle, the Quiz night raised £437, taking our total for the fund-raising year to £3600. We plan to present a cheque for £1200 to each of our 3 charities at our annual Awards Evening on 16th April at Bowers & Pitsea Football Club.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past 12 months and who have helped make this such a successful year for ITEC. Special thanks and acknowledgements go to Clair and her team at the Bowers Club and to all the ITEC staff who have given their time and energy to help with a successful fund-raising year.

Happy Anniversary ITEC, 1984-2014, and still going strong!

ITEC is a small, not-for-profit, community-based college in Basildon specialising in IT and Business Admin. As both a successful Microsoft and CompTIA academy, ITEC ensures that local employers have access to professional qualifications for ITEC apprentices at specially discounted rates to enhance the apprenticeship experience for young people and their employers. Check out our web site http://www.itectlt.co.uk

It’s all about the apprentices, not the profit! #Apprenticeships #Essex